Labour and Strikes
So far there is no hard evidence that this wave of industrial militancy is affecting Labour. A slight drop in its support today could be just as easily caused by the budget. We need to wait until after the weekend to see if there is any new trend.
There is, though, an interesting thought. Yesterday I said that voters may be covertly sympathetic to the unions, because they hate the bankers, who are at the opposite end of the ideological, social and income scale. It is also a fact that no voter under fifty has any real recollection of the impact of the bad old days of never ending strikes. This may give Unite and RMT confidence to tough it out. There is a danger for them in this course. Although the BA strike is spectacular and media friendly, it actually does not affect all that many and most of those probably vote Tory anyway. Shutting down the trains during the working week could change all that. Public anger may then rise and turn on Labour. No doubt the Tories are hoping for this.
I am not averse to the unions regaining more control of Labour and moving it to the left. We do not need two centre parties. It does not make for dynamic politics. Moreover the less fortunate lack a champion and turn to extremist alternatives. The balance of a heavy centre gives a sluggish outcome. Labour is not really very good at centrist politics. Its solutions are too bureaucratic and big government. This is Tory territory. Because Labour successfully elbowed the Tories out, for a time they retreated right and became unelectable. Now they are back at the centre, they seem unable to escape Labour’s shadow. They must do that.
For Labour to return to its true purpose of protecting the interests of the mass of the population, whose daily effort is the foundation of viable society, would be worthy. Its core values would be restored. It has done badly with those as New Labour. The gap between rich and poor has grown. The underclass has burgeoned. The party supposed to prevent this has neglected its patch. To reclaim its territory it may have to go through defeat. As it re-constructs itself on capital provided by the unions it must make sure that its financial backers do not return to the reckless ways of the years that ended in their historic defeat of 1979. Look at any inner city ghetto, or any derelict industrial site. There you will find two roots. One of the disaster of trade union militancy which caused the problem and the other of unrestrained market led capitalism, which offered the solution. We now know that the one was as bad as the other.
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